


Time Before You

by Valgus



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Future, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heartbreak, Hugs, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2018-07-14 11:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7169399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valgus/pseuds/Valgus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Left heartbroken by his childhood friend and lifelong crush Iwaizumi, university student Oikawa bumped into the unfamiliar and stern Ushijima. As their interaction increased and amidst the turmoil of his heartbreak, Oikawa was slowly discovering that Ushijima Wakatoshi was more than meet the eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rum and Rain

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains straight AKA hetero Iwaizumi and past Iwaizumi x Oikawa. If you were cool with that, please proceed.

_And I wonder if anyone is really happy._

_I hope they are._

_I really hope they are._

\- Stephen Chbosky, _The Perks of Being a Wallflower_

* * *

Iwaizumi is straight.

Today, he goes for the fifth date with the girl he really loves on university. Oikawa knows this is coming. He always know. That night, he isn’t exactly dejected. But on his first night drinking alone on the bar—it was _their_ bar. It was Iwaizumi and his. But from now on, perhaps Oikawa better forget the term ‘their’—he is crying over his glass of rum.

And then, from his behind, came a heavy, deep voice, “I don’t think you’re the type to cry while drinking alone, Oikawa.”

Oikawa turns around to see Ushijima Wakatoshi looking down at him from his great height. The guy is just as unchanging as ever, especially on facial expression department. He has grown taller by now. He is more muscular too. However, instead of the usual jersey and jacket, the ex-Shiratorizawa Academy student wears dress shirt and jeans.

Oikawa isn’t sure how it happens, but they suddenly drink together by the counter.

“My heart is broken, Ushiwaka-chan,” says Oikawa after a sip on his rum. He buries his face on his forearms by the table. “Do you know how does that feels?”

When Ushijima doesn’t answer, Oikawa chuckles into his sleeve. He finally lifts his face from the table.

“It’s worse than losing any match.”

Ushijima blinks. Then he grabs his glass and drinks very slowly. “I’m sorry, Oikawa.”

Oikawa musters his widest smile, “How about you, Ushiwaka? I bet you’re living with your smoking hot G-cup girlfriend, huh?”

Ushijima stops on his placing his glass down. “I don’t have girlfriend.”

“Is it because you’re busy with training for Internationals?”

“I just don’t have girlfriend. I never have.”

“What about boyfriend?”

Ushijima’s eyes twitch. He resumes drinking his small glass of spirit. “I never have any romantic relationship with anyone.”

Oikawa stands up so immediately he sees stars. “No way! But you’re Ushiwaka!”

Ushijima just blinks, “I don’t think I understand what you mean.”

When Oikawa realises that people are staring at him, he returns to his seat with tinge of scarlet on his cheeks.

“Hey, Ushiwaka?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you get lonely at night?” Oikawa asks, smiling up to slightly taller Ushijima.

Ushijima returns Oikawa’s gaze only for a second. “No. I don’t feel lonely.”

Oikawa raises his eyebrows.

Ushijima places his empty glass on the counter. “I don’t _do_ lonely, Oikawa.”

And in that very moment, Oikawa Tooru knows that Ushijima Wakatoshi is lonelier than the poor, dense bastard can ever realise or understand.

They agree not to get drunk that night. Oikawa has early class tomorrow. Ushijima cannot miss his routine morning jog.

When they both step outside the bar, with their extra layer of clothing on, the sky suddenly rains. Oikawa sighed and grumbled. Next to him, Ushijima took off his big ass coat. He doesn’t only shelter his own head and wide shoulders from the rain, but also Oikawa.

“Where are you going?” he asks, half-shouting to compensate the sound of the rain.

“What?” asks Oikawa, who actually hears Ushijima just fine.

“Where are you going to go now? Train station? I'll take you there,” shouts the eternally stern-faced Ushijima.

Oikawa smiles, “Yes, train station! But I don’t know whether they’ll let me ride the train if I were soaking wet.”

Ushijima blinks, looks at the thundery night sky, and then looks at Oikawa once again. “Do you want to stay in my place for the night? It’s closer to your university too, right?”

Oikawa blinks in return.

“I’ll lend you my clothes for sleep!” shouts Ushijima, his expression unchanging.

Oikawa starts to chuckle, “Alright! Thank you, Ushiwaka-chan!”

That time, Ushijima doesn’t make the little twitch he usually does whenever Oikawa calls him with names.

Oikawa silently sings inside as the two run to Ushijima’s place. He doesn’t know Ushijima outside the court. He never does.

Now, he is going to and he is excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I love they dynamic of Oikawa and Iwaizumi so much, as friend and also as lovers, I love playing with the idea of Oikawa and Ushijima. I'm a sucker for story of a character getting their heart broken, just to realise that they can still be loved and can still very much be happy in life. I've never wrote any Oikawa x Ushijima story before, nor I write much about both of them, so I apologise if I wrote them off. But then again, they're in university now, so I suppose they'll be different, even just slightly, from their former high school self.
> 
> I'm not quite sure with what I wrote above, but writing it makes me happy and I wish to write more.
> 
> I truly wish.
> 
> (Also, writing in present tense is so hard when I'm not used to it. I suppose I'll return to my usual story in past tense in the next chapter, if I were ever to write it.)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> Links: [My Tumblr](http://hallovalgus.tumblr.com/) | [Haikyuu!! Forum](http://s15.zetaboards.com/haikyuu_forum/index/)
> 
> Some "teaser" for the next chapter:
> 
> If Oikawa were to recall that night, he will starts with describing the smell. It has the smell of earth when it rains, of wet asphalt, and of Ushijima's aftershave. Both of them have no problem on pumping their legs, running with full speed freely on puddled pavements.
> 
> He looks sideways to find Ushijima looking at him too.
> 
> And it is dark and rainy, but Oikawa is sure he doesn't imagine the blush on Ushijima Wakatoshi's face.
> 
> Edit-to-Add, May 2018: I have left AO3 untouched for about two years before decided to pick this story up again. I have mostly forgotten where I wanna bring this story, hence the reason I edited the story's summary. If you noticed the difference of the tone of several chapters, please understand that it is to be expected. Thank you.


	2. Of Rains and Tears

Oikawa went to Ushijima’s place. The place smelled like Ushijima’s aftershave and his faint body odour. There was another smell too. It was familiar. Oikawa slowly realised that it was smell of volleyball. Both of them were slightly drenched, but Oikawa was worse.

He took bath first, for Ushijima insisted.

When Oikawa stepped out from the bath in Ushijima’s a number too big cotton shirts and pants, Ushijima handed him a glass of warm milk.

“Please wait while I take my bath, Oikawa,” he said, his voice deep and his tone flat.

When Ushijima walked out from the bathroom, his hair was wet and down. He didn’t look like Ushijima that Oikawa saw in public. He looked rather endearing, like a public figure who always wore suit outside but then stripped down to pyjama at night.

“Your hair is wet,” pointed Oikawa, who had finished his hot milk.

“I’m sorry. I ran out of clean small towel for my hair. I haven’t been able to do laundry lately.”

As much as the mental image of Ushijima doing laundry was tempting, Oikawa smiled and climbed Ushijima’s bed.

“Here, let me help you.”

Oikawa helped Ushijima with hair drying. He sat on Ushijima’s bed while Ushijima sat on the floor. It was almost unimaginable that Oikawa was doing this with Ushijima. Ushijima was as still as a statue for the first minute. Then he started wriggling. Whether he was ticklish or Oikawa’s powerful strokes and rubs on his scalp made him uncomfortable, Oikawa had no idea.

When Ushijima shuddered and about to leave, Oikawa held him in place. “Stop moving, Iwa-chan!”

Both of them froze.

Time seemed to be standing still.

Ushijima was the first who moved. He turned around to see Oikawa sitting on his bed, his eyes wide, though his facial expression was unchanged.

Oikawa chuckled, only that he chuckled a beat too late. “Sorry, Ushijima. I didn’t mean to do that.”

Ushijima blinked. “You didn’t call me ‘Ushiwaka-chan’ again.”

Oikawa made a small smile. The smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Do you want me to?”

Ushijima blinked, gazed at somewhere over Oikawa’s shoulder, then shrugged, “If that made you feel like you can stop crying because of Iwaizumi-kun, then yes.”

Oikawa blinked rapidly in the span of half a second.

Ushijima just gazed at Oikawa, who was perched higher than him.

Then drops of tears started to flow from Oikawa’s brown eyes. He didn’t seem to realise that at first, but then he sobbed, shoulder hunched and everything.

Ushijima turned around, leaned towards his bed, and wrapped his large, strong arms around Oikawa’s hips.

“Um,” said Oikawa with Ushijima’s head on his stomach. “Ushiwaka-chan, what are you doing?”

Ushijima breathed. His voice was muffled. “I’m calming you down. Isn’t this what people usually do when someone is crying? Hugging?”

Oikawa laughed.

But then his laughter slowly turned into tears and sniffles.

He curled down, his body against Ushijima, and he just cried.

That night, Ushijima insisted that Oikawa should take his bed. Oikawa didn’t object. Ushijima took the kotatsu. Then Ushijima turned off the light.

“Ushiwaka-chan?”

“… What is it, Oikawa?”

“… Thank you.”

“… Yes. Sure. You’re welcome.”

Oikawa closed his eyes. _I don’t do lonely_ , Ushijima had said.

Oikawa wondered whether Ushijima does together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.


	3. As the Sun Rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _No matter how dark the night was, the sun would always rise again._  
>   
>  Oikawa didn't understand that saying until now.  
>   
> Until that very moment when he gazed at Ushijima, whose figure was bathed by the warm, orange-coloured ray of sunrise, who was also gazing back at him, as if Oikawa was something so magnificent, like a mountain or forest.

When Oikawa woke up the next morning, Ushijima’s spare _futon—_ mattress-and-duvet on the floor was empty.

He stared at the tidily stacked, folded _futon_ for a while. Within his muddled, fresh from bed brain, Oikawa managed to recall that Ushijima did say that he was going to have morning run. Sitting in the dimness of Ushijima's bed, Oikawa smiled to no one _—_ except perhaps himself. Then he stood up, made the bed as tidy as possible, and went to the kitchen.

It was still semi-dark outside. Everything was in the deep shade of blue outside the window.

Oikawa opened Ushijima's fridge. (He had mumbled, "Excuse me," politely as he did it.) There were lots of vegetables and fruits. There were also yoghurt, tofu, and several boxes of various type of _miso—_ traditional Japanese seasoning made from fermented soy. Oikawa chuckled at such sight. Somehow, it fit so well with Oikawa's image with Ushijima being very strict and traditional.

He decided to borrow the kitchen to make miso soup. His cooking skill was a bit rusty, but he did his best. Oikawa had chopped the tofu carefully and made sure all the measurements were correct. He kept thinking about what Ushijima would think about his miso soup, the one he made from scratch, with the stock made of _katsuboshi_ and _konbu_ Oikawa made himself.

He thought Ushijima would like it.

(Or at least making remark like, 'I didn't know you cook, Oikawa. You don't seem like the type.)

As he stirred the soup, Oikawa thought about that very moment, the moment he stood on his ex-acquaintance's (and perhaps ex-rival's?) kitchen. He was twenty. He was studying in college. He had left his shiny volleyball past behind since he graduated high school. Now, he studied finance and would probably work on an office in one or two years. He felt so young and lost now, which was a bit strange, because he thought he was young when he was in high school.

... When he was spending his time most with Iwaizumi.

Oikawa stirred the soup again with a ladle on his right hand. He wiped his eyes with his free left hand.

* * *

Not long after Oikawa finished making the miso soup with tofu, he could hear the clicking sound from the front door, followed by heavy steps and the appearance of Ushijima. He looked a little out of breath but beaming, nevertheless, with that glow you saw on people after work out. Oikawa missed being an athlete for a second. Or, perhaps, he just liked seeing Ushijima still being his old high school self: a volleyball player thorough and thorough.

(Because, unlike Iwaizumi, who changed, who had stopped hanging out with Oikawa, Ushijima stayed the same.)

Oikawa shook his head and turned to face Ushijima.

"'Mooorning, Ushiwaka-chan! I made you miso soup for breakfast!" he greeted loudly and cheerfully.

Ushijima just stared at him for a moment. Oikawa wondered whether Ushijima had forgot that Oikawa was staying. If he were, he didn't really show it. He nodded, then asked with his deep, heavy voice, "Good morning, Oikawa. Did you make miso soup?"

"Yep!" Oikawa nodded enthusiastically.

Ushijima nodded again, then cocked his head towards the bathroom. "Well, then I'll take a quick shower first before we have breakfast. Do you want to take shower here as well? I'm sure your clothes would be dry by now."

Oikawa shook his head, "Nah, I'll shower on my own place after this. Go ahead, Ushiwaka-chan."

Ushijima opened his mouth a little. Perhaps he was going to say something, like, 'Please don't call me "Ushiwaka-chan".' But he said nothing. He turned around, towards the bathroom, and soon Oikawa could hear the sound of water trickling down. He still stood there, in a room filled with the smell of warm miso soup and a smell that was unmistakeably Ushijima's.

* * *

They sat together, face to face, with their breakfast on that tiny round wooden table Ushijima pulled from underneath his bed.

Ushijima didn't talk much. Oikawa did most of the talking. He had asked about what sort of tournament he was in now, his volleyball routine, and just a bit on their respective ex-teammates from high school. And as he did, they slowly finished their breakfast: white rice in two dark brown bowls, miso soup with tofu, some natto, and reheated grilled fish. Ushijima didn't seem to mind with all the talking. He replied whenever Oikawa asked and didn't really take his eyes off Oikawa, except when he had to look down when he was trying to catch the tofu on his soup with his chopsticks.

The sun rose slowly outside the apartment.

 _No matter how dark the night was, the sun would always rise again._  
  
Oikawa didn't understand that saying until now.  
  
Until that very moment, when he gazed at Ushijima, whose figure was bathed by the warm, orange-coloured ray of sunrise, who was also gazing back at him, as if Oikawa was something so magnificent, like a mountain or forest.

There was something so peaceful about that silence.

Oikawa didn't need to say anything.

Ushijima said nothing either.

Oikawa thought about himself as he put his empty bowl down. He was this popular, flirty person in front of the girls. He was a setter, a comrade of people like Iwaizumi. He was a lively, fun guy in front of his college friends.

Oikawa didn't know what sort of person Oikawa Tooru was in front of Ushijima Wakatoshi.

But, whoever that person was, Oikawa liked him, who simply ate homemade Japanese breakfast he made himself with Ushijima.

* * *

Oikawa washed the dishes together with Ushijima, with the background sound of morning news from television. Ushijima didn't really watch the news, except when there was that sliver of sports news. After that, Oikawa changed back into the clothes he wore last night. Slipping back into his slightly alcohol-smelled shirt, he told Ushijima that he better go home soon to get ready for his morning class. There was still enough time if he left immediately.

They exchanged phone number by the doorway.

(The smell of miso soup had faded, Oikawa noted. But not the smell of Ushijima.)

"We should do this again," Oikawa smiled as he slipped into his shoes.

Ushijima didn't smile back. But his gaze wasn't very intense as he replied.

"Yes. We should."

Oikawa couldn't help but to notice that both ends of Ushijima's lips were curving up a bit. Maybe that was the best type of smile an Ushijima Wakatoshi could pull off; a ghost one.

And Oikawa was already sure he would never forget Ushijima's smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of want to write one from Ushiwaka's perspective next. Maybe, if I did continue this.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.


	4. Lost and Found

What scared Oikawa the most last night, he pondered as he climbed the staircase up from underground train station, back from Ushijima's place, was to see Iwaizumi, beaming and happy from his date. Upon realising this, he squinted to the new sun, peeking from rows of tall buildings prominent in that metropolitan area. Oikawa walked, walked, and walked, his legs felt heavy and his steps lumpy.

What sort of face he should made when he met Iwaizumi at university this morning?

He stopped in front of his flat's door. Oikawa had fished the key from his pocket. But, he just stood there, as the city waking up around him. Sounds grew larger and multiplied; the humming sound from big vehicles, students going to school, and people walking their dogs. He put his forehead on the door, hating the fact that he was alone with Iwaizumi on his head.

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

Then, his phone vibrated. Oikawa reached it and saw a message from Ushijima. _Your miso soup was delicious. Thank you for making it._ Oikawa smiled. What an Ushijima thing to say. He read that short message again and again, like a treasure hunter exploring a cave, hoping that he'd found gold. Perhaps, the adventure was going to that cave- to go home with Ushijima- itself. Oikawa was still smiling.

He found himself whistling lightly as he toed his shoes off on the entryway.

(Oikawa was still sad about Iwaizumi. Nevertheless, that morning wasn't so bad.

He spent night and morning with Ushijima, after all.)

* * *

Oikawa hadn't replied Ushijima's message. When he arrived at his morning class, a bit too early than usual, he chose to sit, stared at the message, and just smiling silly, as if he were staring at Ushijima's face himself.

That was probably the first morning he didn't notice Iwaizumi entering the classroom to sit next to him as usual.


	5. What was Left, What was to Come

"Did you get laid last night with a really sexy girl?"

Oikawa looked up to see Iwaizumi, lunging into conversation with him without any greeting. They were childhood friends, after all. Oikawa was even closer to Iwaizumi than his own family, for he didn't go to high school and college with his family. The usual Oikawa would grin nastily to Iwaizumi remark. Yes, he usually grinned all morning long when he had great 'night adventure', as Iwaizumi liked to mock him. But, that morning, he was all smile because Ushijima thanked him for a slapdash soup he made.

And Oikawa hadn't feel like sharing it with Iwaizumi just yet.

So he settled with a, "Shut up," and Iwaizumi didn't even blink to that. He sat next to Oikawa, as usual, and eyed Oikawa's phone.

"Did you finally took off the charm?" Iwaizumi asked, pulling out notebook for lectures.

"Huh?" was Oikawa response.

"The stupid charm I bought you from when we went to National and we prayed on that temple the new year before," Iwaizumi said, only glancing to Oikawa, as his gaze was mostly fixated to their lecturer, who just entered the room. "You insisted on keeping it on your phone, even though it's old and stupid. You kept saying it's a great conversation topic whenever you go to group date or something."

"Huh," Oikawa looked at his phone and realised that he had, somehow, lost the silly little charm Iwaizumi had bought him to shut him up years ago.

He was sure he still had it when he was crying in the bar last night. So he probably lost it sometime after he met Ushijima. Oikawa was grinning again, but then he was sighing. (He kept the stupid charm because Iwaizumi gave it to him. Whenever he looked at the charm, he thought of Iwaizumi, and got sad and also happy at the same time.) Now, losing it, Oikawa was surprised he took it without any blow.

The lecturer started.

And Oikawa was mostly thinking about what he should write back to Ushijima.

* * *

It appeared that Oikawa didn't really need to reply Ushijima's message at all, for the very same Ushijima Wakatoshi was waiting outside the lecture room he was in when he went out a couple of hours after. He was so tall. Being in jersey- an ugly, bright purple jersey that somehow fit him anyway- also made him easier to spot. He looked fierce, and strange, and very out of place on Oikawa's university.

But Oikawa was positively beaming when he looked at Ushijima.

"What are you doing here, Ushiwaka-chan?" Oikawa called out to him, proud for silly reason being he spotted Ushijima first.

"You were-"

"... Ushijima Wakatoshi-san?"

Ushijima's words were cut by Iwaizumi. Oikawa didn't realised Iwaizumi was right behind him the whole time. The door was always crowded at the end of a lecture. Oikawa turned to see Iwaizumi bowed slightly to Ushijima.

"Long time no see," Iwaizumi said politely.

"Yes. Likewise," Ushijima responded curtly.

Oikawa was already halfway wondering how to explain why Ushijima was outside their lecture room when Iwaizumi reached for his singing phone and answered the call. He gestured to Oikawa that he was leaving, nodding to Ushijima, and walking away with the biggest smile.

Oikawa knew who the caller was.

He watched Iwaizumi melted to the group of students on the hallway. And then, Ushijima's voice reached him, returning him to wherever he was when he wasn't watching Iwaizumi being happy with someone else who wasn't him.

"You left your phone charm," Ushijima said, his voice heavy and a little monotone. "I found it when I cleaned up my room a little after you left." He opened his big palm and there was the silly little charm Iwaizumi gave him. There were miniature red charm and a three-coloured volleyball on it. Oikawa looked at it, then he looked at Ushijima.

"... Thanks," he mumbled, more because he wasn't sure what to say.

He took it slowly, hyper-aware of other students watching him with not a group of squealing girl, but with a large unknown male student with rather striking purple jersey.

Oikawa took a deep breath, then looked at Ushijima.

"Say, have you had lunch, Ushiwaka-chan? Let me repay you for going out of your way just to deliver the charm to me."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have no planning on where this would go. I have very rough planning, but I'll just see how it goes. I found myself thinking about the sad Oikawa sometime and I just want him to be happy.
> 
> Shout out and big thanks to marina who left comment on the last chapter. It was the final push I need to continue this story.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.


	6. As the Sky Sang

Oikawa had been to his university’s cafeteria for so many times. Nevertheless, that day, he seemed to see things he hadn’t seen before; the tall glass window, letting rays of warm noon sunlight into the white wall of the cafeteria; the beige plastic chairs and the light blue tables; the students who chat and laugh as they eat their lunch; and the booths of food, with their menu and worker behind the bar.

He also happened to see Ushijima.

Wait. No.

It was more like he _felt_ Ushijima. Oikawa wasn’t really looking sideways, but he could almost feel Ushijima’s body heat. He was tall. He was warm, even amidst the warmth of everyone’s bodies on that large room.

And he wore that silly bright purple jersey, which was, quite obviously, made some people look his way. Some even did double take.

As they both settled into empty set of chairs and tables with their trays of food and drink, Oikawa looked up at Ushijima, chuckling, and asking, “Do you always walk around in your own university in that jersey? Or any sport attire, maybe?”

Ushijima blinked. Then he blinked again. “It’s very comfortable,” he answered, in a rather deadpan fashion.

Oikawa couldn’t think of anything but, _Dang, this guy is_ cute.

Ushijima also took the same menu Oikawa did: a plate of rice with vegetable curry. Oikawa pointed that out and told Ushijima that he could get anything he wanted. Ushijima said that he trusted Oikawa’s choice. Oikawa proceeded to tell Ushijima about athlete’s diet and whether Ushijima was allowed to eat so much carb.

To that, Ushijima looked at Oikawa in that certain way, blinked, and answered with a ghost of smile on his usually stern lips.

“When I’m with you, I’ll eat what you have. It’s okay as long as I don’t eat curry and rice every single time I have to eat.”

Oikawa almost patted Ushijima as he smiled so brightly.

Then, through the corner of his eyes, he saw Iwaizumi with a certain girl. Suddenly, the world grew a little dimmer, like everything was doused with grey colour. Oikawa stared at Iwaizumi at the distance so hard he was surprised Iwaizumi didn’t notice. He had seen this scene a bit too often. Iwaizumi had picked up his girl from her class. Then, they had lunch together. Oikawa was still staring. He stared so hard his eyes were hurting. _I have loved you so much for so long_. He didn’t know to whom he was mad at: Iwaizumi for ‘leaving’ him, Iwaizumi’s girl for snatching Iwazumi away from him, or himself, who was still stupid enough to think that his lifelong unrequited love would go anywhere.

_It had been doom since the beginning, anyway,_ that was what Oikawa always told himself.

But he was still drawn to Iwaizumi, nevertheless. Because he was stupid. Because that's what love does to people; it makes them stupid as hell.

Oikawa knew he was crying.

Though, no tears were on his cheeks or even eyes. He was just sitting, aching, crying, with no one noticing.

“… I can go for a dessert,” said Ushijima. His voice called Oikawa back to the fact that he was eating with Ushijima.

Now, Oikawa was the one who was blinking. “Uh, sure, Ushiwaka-chan.”

Ushijima did that ghost of smile again and they went to get yoghurt for healthy dessert. They sat by the garden university outside the cafeteria. The sky was cloudy. Oikawa shared the garden chair with Ushijima, who was apparently not very good at eating yoghurt from tiny plastic box that seemed to be way too small for his big volleyball hands. Oikawa giggled and looked up at the stern-faced Ushijima.

“Do you not eat yoghurt often, Ushiwaka-chan?” he asked in that singsong tone.

Ushijima licked a bit of white yoghurt on his lips, “Oh, I don’t usually eat yoghurt at all. I don't usually do dessert.”

That was when Oikawa realised that Ushijima had _seen_ him. There he was, sitting at that cafeteria, watching Iwaizumi being happy, and was breaking apart inside. Ushijima was sitting in front of him, saw Oikawa with whatever expression he was pulling, and distracted him with yoghurt dessert.

Oikawa was blinking tears in his eyes.

“… Thankyouforsavingme,” he whispered, mumbling, as he looked down to empty plastic yoghurt box on his palms.

“I beg your pardon, what was that?” Ushijima leaned down a little to hear Oikawa better.

Oikawa shook his head and laughing. Aching, but he was laughing. “… Nothing, Ushiwaka-chan.” He laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and blinking more tears. _Thank you for saving me_.

When he looked up once again, the sky was now clear and blue. Sure, there were still clouds here and there, but the blue was high and bright.

And Oikawa Tooru felt fine on that sunny afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been thinking about this story's continuation for a while, but only now I have time and energy to actually sit down and write this lovely scene of Oikawa eating lunch with Ushijima. I do want to continue this, but we shall see.
> 
> Shout out to the very lovely marina and shittykingoikawa for commenting on the last chapter! I really appreciate them.


End file.
